1. Field
Various examples described herein relate generally to methods and devices for shielding reservoirs of Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motors, and in particular methods and systems for reducing or preventing the loss of liquid within FDB motors.
2. Description of Related Art
Disk drives are capable of storing large amounts of digital data in a relatively small area. Disk drives store information on one or more recording media, which conventionally take the form of circular storage disks (e.g. media) having a plurality of concentric circular recording tracks. A typical disk drive has one or more disks for storing information. This information is written to and read from the disks using read/write heads mounted on actuator arms that are moved from track to track across the surfaces of the disks by an actuator mechanism.
Generally, the disks are mounted on a spindle that is turned by a spindle motor to pass the surfaces of the disks under the read/write heads. The spindle motor generally includes a shaft and a hub, to which one or more disks are attached, and a sleeve defining a bore for the shaft. Permanent magnets attached to the hub interact with a stator winding to rotate the hub and disk. In order to facilitate rotation, one or more bearings are usually disposed between the sleeve and the shaft.
Over the years, storage density has tended to increase, and the size of the storage system has tended to decrease. This trend has lead to greater precision and lower tolerance in the manufacturing and operating of magnetic storage disks. Accordingly, the bearing assembly that supports the hub and storage disk is of increasing importance.
One typical bearing assembly used in such storage systems includes a fluid dynamic bearing system. In a fluid dynamic bearing system, a lubricating fluid such as air or liquid provides a bearing surface between a fixed member of the housing and a rotating member of the disk hub. In addition to air, typical lubricants include gas, oil, or other fluids. Fluid dynamic bearings spread the bearing surface over a large surface area, as opposed to a ball bearing assembly, which comprises a series of point interfaces. This is desirable because the increased bearing surface reduces wobble or runout between the rotating and fixed members. Further, the use of fluid in the interface area imparts damping effects to the bearing, which helps reduce non-repeatable run-out.
To keep the lubricating liquid in the bearing region, the bearing system generally includes various sealing mechanisms, such as capillary seals for retaining the lubricating liquid in the bearing region during non-operation of the motor. A capillary seal typically comprises two relatively angled surfaces at the end of the fluid dynamic bearing gap containing the bearing region(s) and utilizes capillary forces to bias the fluid toward the bearing region(s).
The fluid dynamic bearing motor, and in particular, the capillary seals, may lose fluid over time to evaporation or if subject to sudden jarring, often referred to as a shock event. Accordingly, motors including fluid dynamic bearings typically include a fluid reservoir adapted to contain additional fluid for the bearings that is lost, e.g., due to evaporation over the life of the motor or during a shock event. Often, the fluid reservoir is part of or at least in fluidic communication with a capillary seal.
Fluid within the capillary seal and reservoir may be contained or sealed within the motor by a shield member that acts to reduce evaporation and contain the oil during a shock event. For example, an annular shaped shield member may be placed adjacent to the capillary seal and reservoir to at least partially seal and protect the capillary seal and reservoir from evaporation or leakage of fluid. Typically, such fluid reservoirs are filled via a needle, which may be inserted through a fill hole located in the shield. The fill hole in the shield, however, allows for evaporation of the fluid and may allow contaminants to enter, thereby limiting the useful life of the FDB motor. In addition to evaporation, fluid may exit the fill hole during a shock event.
Additionally, during injection of fluid into the system, a needle is threaded through the fill hole of the shield to the fluid reservoir. The needle tip may contact surfaces of the shield not associated with the reservoir, thereby depositing fluid on unintended portions of the shield or motor.
Finally, the shield may be placed in close proximity to relatively rotating portions of the FDB motor system and may contact a relatively rotating portion of the FDB motor during an operational shock event or the like. Such contact may lead to possible damage or seizure of the motor.
Accordingly, systems and methods for providing reduced evaporation or escape of fluid from a fluid reservoir of a fluid dynamic bearing motor system are desired.